Refrigerating apparatus



` March 29, 1938. M. J. GOULOZE 2,112,771

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 30, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l v u-----um 1.---- f INVENTQR.

( 7H/BTM J 600400213 IEX/WLM ATTORNEY.

March 29, 14938. M. J. GoULoozE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 'Filed Maron:50, 1954 2 sheets-sheet 2 RE mu N0 E Vu m0 6. J w W BY MWL ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 29,

' UNITED sTATEs V PATENT oEFlcE or, by mesne assignments, Corporation,Detroit, Mich.,- a

Maryland to Nash-Kelvlnator corporation of application March so, 1934,smal No. 118,187

11 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly toshelves for receiving and supporting articles while other articles arebeing placed into or removed from the refrigera- 5 tor.

In placing articles into or removing them from a refrigerator, it isfrequently necessary to remove other articles while this is being done.Often times, there is no readily availablelplace 10 for the temporarilyremoved articles in the refrigerator, -since the shelves of therefrigerator may be crowded, and it is then necessary to dispose them atanother place which -may be a considerable distance from therefrigerator. This, of course, is a great inconvenience as it consumestime and causes the housewife or other person to take many unnecessarysteps.

One of the objects of the present invention is to incorporate with arefrigerator a readily accessible means on which articles temporarilyremoved during the placing into or removal of other articles from therefrigerator, may be quickly and conveniently disposed.v

Another object is to provide such an article supporting means which ismade readily available for use by the opening of the refrigerator door.

Another object is to provide such an article.

supporting means which is mounted on the reirigerator door or at thedoor opening or both. A further object is to provide such an articlesupporting means which is carried by the refrigerator door or at thedoor opening or both and which automatically is made available for useby the opening of the refrigerator door. l With the above and otherobjects in view, the present invention consists in certain features ofconstruction and combinations of parts to be hereafter described withreference to the accompanying drawings, and then claimed.

In the drawings which illustrate suitable embodiments of the presentinvention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator showing the door openand the article receiving shelf in article receiving position;

Figure 2 is a vertical fragmentary section taken through vtherefrigerator showing the door open and the shelf in operative position,and also showing the door closed and the shelf in raisedinoperativeposition;

Figure 3 is a section taken approximately on -the line 3--3 of .Figure 2showing the shelf and operating link in operative position;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the operating link showingthe universal mounting therefor;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a refrigerator showing a modifiedshelf arrangement in which the shelf is mounted at the lower ledge ofthe door opening;

Figure 6 is a transverse section through the refrigerator, showing thedoor open and the shelf in operative position;

Figure 'I is a view similar to Figure 6 showingthe door closed and theshelf in its inoperative position; and

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken approximately lon the line 8--8 ofFigure 6 showing the shelf in its article receiving position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refertolike parts throughout the several views, I have shown in Figures 1 and5, for the purpose of illustration, a refrigerator i0 having avertically hinged door Il. The device of the present invention is in theform of an auxiliary shelf i2 which is so movably mounted that upon theopening of the door Ii, it will swing to a horizontal position so thatwhen it is desired to place articles into or remove arti; cles from therefrigerator, other articles which maybe in the way, may be quickly andconveniently placed on the auxiliary shelf i2, thus obviating theinconvenience of going across the kitchen or refrigerator room to placethese articles on a table or some such place, while the other articlesare being placed into or removed from the refrigerator.

The shelf is also so arranged thatit may be moved toa substantiallyvertical position when the door II is closed so as not to take up usefulspace in the food compartment of the refrigerator. This may be donemanually or by a suitable mechanical means to be later described, whichautomatically functions upon the opening of the refrigerator door tomove the shelf to a horizontal operative position.

Also, as will be seen from the drawings, the shelf I2 may be mounted onthe inner side of the refrigerator door or upon the lower ledge I3 ofthe door opening. Obviously, however, the auxiliary shelf l2 may bemounted at other convenient locations.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the shelf i2 isin the form o f a grid or grill-like frame having rod-like end piecesIl, rod-like side pieces I5 and spaced cross pieces I6. In thisconstruction, the shelf l2 is mounted at a convenient location on theinner side of the door Il by any means suitable for providing a swingingmovement.' As here shown, one of the shelf I2 is also provided withsuitable projections I8 which, when the shelf is in its articlereceiving position serve as stops which abut the inner face of thedoor-II and support the shelf in a horizontal position.

In order to provide automatic means for swinging the shelf upwardly to aposition adjacent the face of the door when itis closed so as not toutilize useful space in the refrigerator food compartment, I employ asuitable link I8, one end of which is preferably provided with a ballportion I9 having a universal connection with a retainer 20 secured tothe lower ledge I3 of the door open'- ing. 'I'he opposite end of thelink I8 is preferably provided with an enlarged eye 2| which slidablysurrounds the rod-like end piece Il adjacent the door opening. This linkI8 is arranged at such an angle, when the door is opened and the shelfin its horizontal article receiving position, that as the door is movedto its closed position, the shelf I2 is swung upwardly through thesliding engagement with the link I8 therewith to the position adjacentthe inner door face as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 2. 'Also, asthe door is moved to an open position, the link I8 causes the shelf I2to swing to the article receiving position shown in solid outline.

Infthe construction shown in Figures vto 8 inclusive, one of therod-like side pieces 23 of the shelf I2 is hingedly supported on thelower ledge 'I3 of the.door opening by means of suitable y spacedmembers 24.

This rod-like side piece is provided with an extension 25 whichterminates adjacent the hinged edge of the door II in an offset portion26. 'Ihe offset portion 25 is so shaped that when the door II is swungto its open position, such portion lies somewhat beyond the edge of thedoor opening as indicated in Figure. 6. When the door is open, the shelfI2 is supported in a horizontal article receiving position by the doorsill I3.

,Upon closing the door, the portion thereof adjacent the hinged edgeengages the offset portion 25v during the initial travel, and swings theshelf upwardly to a substantially vertical position, such as indicatedin Figure '1.

It will be seen from Figure 7, that with the door II closed, the shelfI2 is substantially vertically disposed adjacent the inner face of thedoor and does not occupy any of the useful space of the foodcompartment. The shelf I2 when the door is being moved to open positiongradually swings downwardly by gravity to its horizontal articlereceiving position, as shown in Figure 8.

It will be noted from the drawings and foregoing description that I haveprovided a new and useful device for refrigerators which will save thetime and unnecessary movements of the housewife or other persons inplacing articles into and removing them from the refrigerator. andlAside from the specific embodiments of the invention herein shown anddescribed, it will be understood that numerous details of theclonstruction may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, and that I do not desire to limit theinven tion to the exact construction herein set forth. as I desiretoclalm the invention broadly as well as specifically as indicated inthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a refrigerator having a swingable door. an article supportingshelf horizontally hinged to the inner face of said door, and a linkuniversally connected at one end to said refrigerator and slidablyconnected at the opposite end to said shelf, whereby upon swingingmovement of said door, said shelf is caused to swing to and from. ahorizontal article supporting position.

2. In a refrigerator having a swingable door, an auxiliary shelfhorizontally hinged to the inner face of said door, means on said shelfengageable with said face to hold said shelf in a horizontal positionwhen said door is open, and means for swinging said shelf upwardly outof horizontal position upon closing movement of said door. a

3. In a refrigerator having a. swingable door. an auxiliary shelfhorizontally hinged to the inner face of said door, means on said shelfengageable with said face to lhold said shelf inar horizontal positionwhen said door is open, and means for swinging said shelf upwardly outof horizontal position upon closing movement of said door, said lastmentioned means comprising a link member, slidably connected at one endwith said shelf and hingedly connected at the opposite end with astationary portion of the refrigerator.

4. In a refrigerator having a food compartment and a swingable door forclosing the same, an auxiliary shelf horizontallyhinged to the innerface of said door, stop means associated with said shelf to support saidshelf in horizontal position when said door is open, and means forswinging said shelf out of horizontal position upon closing movement ofsaid door.

5. In a refrigerator having a food compartment and a swingable door forclosing the same, an auxiliary shelf horizontally hinged to the inner`face of said door, stop means associated with rend slidably connectedwith said shelf and its opposite end universally connected with saidrefrigerator within said food compartment.

6. In a refrigerator having a food compartment and a swingable door forclosing the same, an auxiliary shelf horizontally hinged to the innerface of said door, stop means associated with said shelf to support saidshelf in horizontal position when said door is open, and means forswinging said shelf out of horizontal position upon closing movement ofsaid door, said last mentioned means comprising a rod portion on saidshelf, and a link having an eye portion at one end encircling said rodportion and universal means at the other end thereof for universallymounting said last named end within said food compartment.

7. In a refrigerator having a4 food compartment anda vertically hingeddoor for closing the same, an auxiliary shelf pivotally mounted withinthe food compartment, and engageable means actuable upon closingmovement of said door for turning said shelf from an operative articlesupfrigerator, the hinge axis being within said food compartment, andmeans on said shelf engageable with said door for swinging said shelffrom a horizontal position during closing movement of said door. v

9. In a refrigerator having a door opening and a swingable door forclosing the same, a swingable auxiliary shelf disposable in a horizontala-rticle supporting position when said door is open, means for hngingsaid `shelf to the lower ledge of said door opening, and means extendingfrom said shelf for engagement with said door during closing movementthereof to swing said shelf out of its horizontal position.

10. In a refrigerator having a door opening and a swingable door forclosing the same, a swingable auxiliary shelf, means for hinging saidshelf to the lower ledge of said door opening, said ledge supportingsaid shelf in horizontal position while the door is open, and an offsetarm extending from said shelf toward the hinged edge of said door forengagement with said door upon closing movement thereof to swing saidshelf out of its horizontal position.

11. In a refrigerator, a heat insulating cabinet enclosing a storagecompartment, a stationary shelf horizontally disposed in said storagecompartment, an open doorway in said cabinet closed by a verticallyhinged door,.a rearranging shelf, means for pivotally supporting saidrearranging shelf, and actuating means for turning said rearrangingshelf to a horizontal article receiving position as said door is openedand to a vertical folded position between said door and said horizontalshelf as said door is closed.

- MARTIN J. GOULOOZE.

